17 Best Flowering Succulents To Grow Indoors & Outdoors

Know the names of 17 Best Flowering Succulents that you can grow indoors and outdoors for their intriguing texture, foliage, and flowers.

Succulents and cacti are not just about glossy fat foliage, thorns, and textures. There are succulents that flower as well.

1. Christmas Cactus

Botanical Name: Schlumbergera x buckleyi

Common Names: Holiday cactus, Crab cactus

A blooming Christmas cactus plant can be a great gift for the holiday season. If properly cared, it bears beautiful warm colored flowers in the shade of purple, pink and red. Keep this plant slightly root bound, do watering when the topsoil is dry. Check out more growing tips here.

2. Crown of Thorns

This prolific bloomer is probably one of the best flowering succulents in our list. It requires minimal care to look well, grows successfully as a houseplant, it can be grown outdoors easily in frost-free climates. Learn everything you need to maintain it here.

3. Pincushion Cactus

Botanical Name: Mammillaria crinita

Pincushion Cactus is a drought tolerant plant and very easy to grow. Add it to your succulent collection for its flowers and overall ball-shaped look. When growing indoors, provide the plant at least 4 hours of direct sunlight.

Note: It has hooked spines so handle this plant cautiously and keep it out of the reach of children and pets.

4. Rock Purslane

Botanical Name: Calandrinia spectabilis

Tall stems protrude above the dense foliage and produce a bunch of lovely magenta flowers. Although the flowers last only one day, new ones are ready to take their place soon in the blooming season.

5. Afterglow

Among other echeverias, afterglow has prettiest blooms and attractive lavender shade rosette of leaves. Outer edges of the leaves are splashed with beautiful pink. Cheerful-reddish blooms give this plant an otherworldly look. Growing requirements are similar to echeveria, for best color, keep it in full sun.

6. Marble Buttons

The unusual marble like shape piques up the interest of many. The leaves fuse to form a special spherical dome that possesses a chalky, hairless and smooth texture. In autumn, clove-scented yellow to golden to dark orange nocturnal flowers adorn it and make it more charming.

7. Flowering Kalanchoe

This evergreen plant is available in a variety of sizes and flower colors. Ovate shaped dark green foliage makes it attractive, but that is not enough, the colorful blossoms make it a must-have houseplant. Keep it in a slightly root bound state near a window that receives plenty of sun, avoid wet feet and it’ll bloom often. Also, check out our article on best flowering houseplants.

8. Jade Plant

Jade plant is one of the best houseplants for beginners. It can be 3-4 feet tall indoors when kept in the ideal condition. Glossy, oval-shaped, dark green leaves are its main asset but flowers as well. Getting a jade plant bloom is tricky indoors but not so difficult. The star-shaped flowers range from white to pink in color appear in late winter or early spring.

9. Purple Ice Plant

Not only notable for its needle-like leaves but also for the daisy-like purple flowers blooming all summer long and fall. Growing about 3-4 inches tall, it spreads quickly. An excellent choice for a ground cover! Choose well-drained dry soil and sunny spot to grow it.

10. Red Yucca

This agave family succulent plant is more like an ornamental grass in appearance, but due to its beautiful flower stalks and flowers and low requirements, it’s a better alternative. Extremely drought and heat tolerant, it grows best outside in hot climates. However, if you’ve got access to a sunny window, grow it indoors.

11. Peanut Cactus

Botanical Name: Echinopsis chamaecereus ‘Westfield Alba’

Compact in size, this plant looks like peanut shells. With large flower heads, it blooms in abundance in the stunning shade of white and orange. Unlike other cacti, the spines of this cactus are smooth, so pets and children are safe from any harm. To grow, keep it in part sun in hot climates and full sun in cool climates.

12. Emily Cobweb Houseleek

This rosette-forming small succulent is unique, the red and green colored leaves are covered with spiderweb-like cilia. The flowers are star-shaped and pink in color and appear on the raised stems. Grow it in a rock garden, scree bed, wall crevice, alpine house, trough or simply in a container indoors or outdoors.

13. Aloe

There are many species in the aloe genus that display attractive flowers. Some of the names are written above. Must check out our article here to find the best aloe plants for containers.

14. Desert Rose Plant

Botanical Name: Adenium obesum

Common Names: Adenium, Sabi Star, Kudu, Mock Azalea, Impala Lily

This show-stopper succulent can also be displayed as a bonsai specimen due to its fat trunk. The flowers appear in spring and summer in the cold climate, and year-round in a warm climate in the glorious shades of red, white or pink if kept in full sun. This flowering succulent can grow up to 10 feet tall with a very slow pace but can be maintained in small to medium containers.

Caveat: The sap of this plant is toxic, and ingestion may cause stomach upset and lethargy.

15. Lifesaver Cactus

The star-shaped flowers are articulated with beautiful zebra stripes and a donut-shaped ring at the center. Doing equally well in both indoor and outdoor conditions, it doesn’t tolerate cold drafts and frost. Mealybugs are detrimental for this plant, be on a constant lookout for them.

16. Orchid Cactus

Botanical name: Epiphyllum hybrids

This relative of Christmas cactus looks best in hanging baskets. Long stems are broad and serrated, look so aesthetic when sloping down from the basket with big showy flowers forming at the end. The flowers can range from pink, red, white, yellow, orange, purple to bicolored. Check out this informative growing guide for more information.

17. Ruby Ball

A unique addition to your office desk or indoor tabletop because of the unusual chlorophyll less top colorful bodies. Other than red and orange there are variants of 15 different colors including purple, yellow, and white. Learn more about this grafted specimen here.